The Golden State Foods Foundation recently presented a $50,000 donation to the Whitewater Community Foundation to help make Treyton Kilar’s Field of Dreams a reality. The field is to be built this year in memory of Treyton Kilar, a young baseball fan who was killed by a drunken driver just before his seventh birthday.
Trey’s parents, Mike and Mary Kilar, Matt Amundson, City of Whitewater Parks and Recreation director, accepted the donation on Jan. 16 for the Whitewater Community Foundation, which is sponsoring the project.
“Sept. 2, 2010 was a day marked with devastation for our family as we lost our son, Trey,” said Mary Kilar, amidst dozens of supporters, including more than 30 GSF associates at the Whitewater distribution center. “It was also a time when this community, individuals and organizations like Golden State Foods restored our faith in the true goodness of people. Without this community, we would have been lost, devastated, and alone.
“Because of this donation and the generosity of so many, this field will be built,” she continued. “It will be built in honor of all those lost to destruction, it will be built as a gift to our youth to continue to dream as Treyton did, and it will be built and represent this wonderful community filled with organizations and people like you that believe in creating a better world and giving back to people who need you most. We are honored to accept this donation on behalf of the Treyton Kilar Field of Dreams and blessed to call you all friends. Thank you for all you continue to do for this Whitewater community and beyond.”
Golden State Foods, a restaurant supply company located in the Whitewater Business Park, employs 132 associates. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., the company is one of the world’s largest diversified suppliers to the quick service restaurant industry, including McDonald’s.
According to Wayne Luter, General Manager of the GSF Whitewater distribution center, “Mike, Mary and I talked very candidly about the vision for the future and their big fear was not allowing his memory to ever diminish in our hearts. We made that promise that we would not allow that to happen as long as our Foundation was here and we were part of the Whitewater community.”
Luter, along with Whitewater residents and Foundation Committee members, Jeaneen Brokmeier and Connie Hornickel, and Foundation Executive Director Chuck Browne, represented the local Whitewater Foundation Committee in presenting the donation.
Luter said $30,000 was given at the presentation and the remaining $20,000 will be given over four years “to ensure Treyton remains in the hearts of those throughout the community.”
This gift increases the funds raised with the Whitewater Community Foundation to $400,000. A total of $75,000 is still needed to make the field a reality.
“This gift moves the project one step closer to a groundbreaking later this spring,” said Amundson,
Plans for Treyton’s Field of Dreams call for a 220-225 foot, youth-sized field with artificial turf, concrete dugouts, fencing, concession stands and lights.
The projected cost of the project is $475,000.
The Kilars said, “The field will provide a safe place for children and families to celebrate life and learn how to make responsible, life-long decisions.”
For more information, visit www.treysfield.org.
How to help
Make a contribution to the Treyton Kilar Field of Dreams through the Whitewater Community Foundation Project, Treyton Kilar Field Memorial Fund, First Citizens State Bank, 207 W. Main Street, Whitewater, WI 53190.
